Year: 2011

US TV

What have you been watching this week (w/e February 11)?

11 February 2011 Rob Buckley 2 Comments

Archer season two

It’s “What have you been watching this week?”, your chance to recommend to friends and fellow blog readers the TV that they might be missing or should avoid – and for me to do mini-reviews of everything I’ve watched this week. Since we live in the fabulous world of Internet catch-up services like the iPlayer and Hulu, why not tell your fellow readers what you’ve seen so they can see the good stuff they might have missed?

Regular recommendations; Cougar Town, House, Modern Family, Royal Pains, Southland, 30 Rock and Top Gear

This week’s backlog: Archer; Community; Episodes; Outcasts; and Royal Navy Caribbean Patrol. One day, I’ll get round to The Killing as well. Stupid BBC4 and it’s two episodes a week stunt scheduling.

After the jump, mini-reviews of last week’s Archer and Community as well as this week’s Being Human, Being Human (US), Chuck, Shameless, Smallville and Spartacus: Gods of the Arena.

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US TV

Review: Mr Sunshine 1×1

11 February 2011 Rob Buckley 5 Comments

Mr Sunshine

In the US: Wednesdays, 9.30/8.30c, ABC

Imagine there’s a heaven. More exactly, imagine there’s a TV heaven, a TV heaven where all your favourite actors can go to when their existing series end. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?

Well, ABC has found it and it’s called Mr Sunshine. It stars:

  • Matthew Perry! Chandler from Friends! Yey!
  • Allison Janney! CJ from The West Wing! Yey!
  • Andrea Anders! The woman who lived next door to Joey on Joey and was in that Better Off Ted thing! Yey!
  • Jorge Garcia! Hurley from Lost! Yey!

How awesome is that?

Of course, it would also be great if TV heaven was a good show as well. Fortunately, Mr Sunshine is actually a very good half hour of fun, in which Perry – the somewhat grumpy Mr Sunshine of the title – has to try to manage a San Diego sports centre, juggling the constant demands of his very sunny best friend, his often high boss (Janney) and his friend (with benefits) Andrea Anders.

Cue the trailer – just imagine it has Jorge Garcia instead of the old Latino guy instead.

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UK TV

Review: Bedlam 1×1

11 February 2011 Rob Buckley 5 Comments

Bedlam

In the UK: Sundays, 9pm, Sky Living
In the US: Saturdays, BBC America. Some time in 2011

Think of Sky Living (formerly Living TV) and what comes to mind? Largely reality TV shows like Britain’s Next Top Model and daft psychic and ghost-hunting programmes like Most Haunted. So Bedlam is something of a departure for the channel: its first scripted drama.

Not much of a departure though, because this is essentially Most Haunted: The Even More Obviously Fictional Version. Featuring a host of young, pretty actors – and Will Young (yes, the winner of Pop Idol) – Bedlam is set in ‘Bedlam Heights’, a former mental asylum in which the patients were abused, murdered, etc, and which has now been turned into a block of luxury apartments by Hugo Speer (The Full Monty).

Can you see what’s going to go wrong here?

Speer’s daughter Kate (Charlotte Salt) lives in one of the flats with her pals Molly (Ashley Madekwe) and Ryan (Young). All seems to be going well until they find an old ring (no clues there) and Kate’s cousin Jed (Theo James) turns up. See, the thing is, former mental patient Jed can see dead people and it turns out there’s a lot of them at Bedlam Heights…

Cue the artistic, creepy trailer.

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The cast of The Hobbit

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British TV

US TV

US TV

Review: Traffic Light 1×1

10 February 2011 Rob Buckley 10 Comments

Traffic Light

In the US: Tuesdays, 9.30c/8.30c, Fox

Poor Alex Breckenridge. She never has much luck with Israeli imported TV formats, does she? One of the best things about both Dirt and Life Unexpected, she was also the best thing about The Ex-List, one of the first TV show formats to be imported by the US from Israel (the other being In Treatment). The Ex-List lasted all of four episodes before getting canned, but alas, poor Alex, she was in the pilot for Fox’s new rom com, Traffic Light, back when it was called Mixed Signals, and then she got recast. Not even an episode this time.

Still, if it’s any consolation to her now she’s on True Blood, this one looks like it’s going to last about four episodes too, especially since it’s currently in the practically-dead Running Wilde‘s time slot.

Based on the popular Israeli sitcom, Ramzor (which is apparently very funny if you can speak Hebrew), Traffic Light – which had a better title back when it was Mixed Signals – feels like an odd mix of a lot of the other rom-com sitcoms out there right now, particularly Rules of Engagement, Perfect Couples and Better With You. It sees three guys, one heavily married, one considering moving in with his girlfriend and one perpetually single, trying to navigate their friendships and their relationships, all while slightly disapproving, slightly dull women look at them as they mess up and embarrass themselves.

You know who else doesn’t have much luck with TV series these days? Kris Marshall – yes, him off the BT ads and My Family. He’s in this, too.

Cue two almost identical trailers, one with Alex, one without, all with Kris. By the way, these contain all but three of the jokes in the first episode, so you can save some time by watching them.

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